On a dreary April morning, I decided to make the 60 minute trek from Columbus to Vandalia, the home of The Hairless Hare Brewery. I pulled into the strip mall on National Rd, US Route 40, just a couple miles north of I-70. As I entered the taproom, I was surprised by a nice crowd for an early Sunday afternoon. I found a seat at the bar and ordered a flight of four of their ten house beers. With a nice selection, that ranged from some lower ABV brews including an ESB, an Irish Red, and an English Brown Ale, to some bigger beers that included an IPA, a Belgian Double, and a Russian Imperial Stout, it was a challenge to choose only four.
I quickly found my way behind the bar and slipped into the brewery for a conversation with brew master, Tony Dawes, AKA T-Dawg. Hairless Hare has a 3bbl brewing system with nine 3bbl fermenters, which allows them to produce a nice range of beers. In fact, after only two years, Tony had just put his 250th batch on tap: Double Dawg Dare Belgian Ale; a very smooth, rich beer at 6.8%.
Back at the bar, I struck up a conversation with a couple of local folks. This is very much a neighborhood hangout for Vandalia and features such amenities as a Foosball table, a digital juke box, plus a couple of TV’s hanging from the walls. If you look closely behind the bar, you will notice several dozen, somewhat bizarre, beer mugs. These belong to members of their Mug Club. For $80 members get a 22 oz. ceramic mug, custom made by a local artist. In addition to having your own mug available, you get 22 oz. ‘pints’, access to special events and other discounts. You might also spot the large pewter stein which is the rotating trophy that Hairless Hare won at a beer festival last year for ‘Dayton’s Best Brewery’. And perhaps most interesting were four barrels along the wall of the taproom. One of them contained Buckeye Nation Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout in a Wild Turkey barrel that is due to be released late summer.
Finally, you are probably wondering about the origin of the brewery’s name. It turns out that one of the owners is Matt Harris. Back in the day, he had fashionably long hair, while his brother went with a closely cropped cut. So, his brother was nicknamed ‘Hairless’ as a reference to his hair style and a play on the name ‘Harris.’
The Hairless Hare Brewery is located at 738 W. National Road in Vandalia and is open seven days a week. Happy hour is offered Monday through Friday from 4-6pm and features a dollar off drafts and some food specials. They have a full liquor license and a nice food menu that features some pretty good pizzas.
Look for Hairless Hare beer in Central Ohio this month at the Grove City Craft Beer Fest, and in May at Six One Pour.
